1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to vehicles such as trailers configured to be towed by a towing vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a trailer having a dumping box which can be tilted to dump the contents of the box. Specifically, the present invention relates to a rendering trailer having a center gate with a door to facilitate cleaning the trailer.
2. Background Information
Amongst the many types of trailers used for hauling goods and various items along the highways and various other roadways are trailers known as rendering trailers. Rendering trailers are typically used to haul the carcasses, offal, heads, feet, skins, feathers or the like of dead animals and typically include open top containers or boxes which are tiltable to dump the carcasses or the like therefrom. These containers or boxes include a rear gate which is openable in order to allow carcasses or other contents to be dumped from the rear end of the trailer. In addition, these trailers often include an inner gate or center gate which is typically positioned within the container adjacent its center to divide the container into front and rear compartments. Thus, for instance, the carcasses of certain types of animals may be contained within the front compartment while the carcasses of other types of animals may be contained in the rear compartment so that the different types may be kept separate from one another so that the different types of carcasses may be dumped from the trailer in different locations. Another common scenario is the hauling of feathers (such as chicken feathers) in the front compartment and the hauling of the offal of the same chickens in the rear compartment for subsequent dumping at different locations. Those skilled in the art will recognize other scenarios. More particularly, the center gate is also openable and closable such that the center gate remains closed while the rear gate opens during dumping in order to dump only the carcasses or other load of the rear compartment. The trailer may subsequently be moved to another location at which the center gate and the rear gate are both opened in order to allow the dumping of the carcasses or other load from the front compartment.
After the contents of the trailer have been dumped from both compartments, the inside of the trailer is nonetheless rather messy with blood, offal and the like. Thus, the inside of the container requires regular cleaning. However, the center gate is a hindrance to cleaning the inside of the trailer because it impedes the ability of a worker to move between the front and rear compartments. Typically, the worker climbs over the center gate, typically using rungs which are permanently secured to the front and back sides of the center gate. This climbing procedure can be difficult, dangerous and also quite messy as a result of the nature of the load hauled in such trailers. Thus, there is a need in the art to facilitate the ability of a worker to move from the front to the rear compartment to allow the worker to more easily wash out both compartments.